An Anniversary…

One year ago to the day, Every Record Tells A Story published its first post, an unassuming story about how I won my first ever record in a disco dancing competition when I was eleven years old.

The record I won was by The Beatles and started me off on a voyage of musical discovery which has led me to write this music blog for the last year. I say it was by The Beatles: technically it was by The Beatles. (OK, it was actually by Stars on 45).

With a year having passed, I thought I should take stock of where we have got to…

When I started writing Every Record Tells A Story on 22nd January 2012, the idea I had in my mind was to record how one person can get themselves embroiled in a passion for music that lasts a lifetime. I wasn’t certain that anyone would be interested, but I knew that I enjoyed reading about other people’s experiences and so hoped that the reverse would be true.

I also soon realised that the attraction of music didn’t end for me when I left my teenage years, or started work, or got married, or had kids. So it seemed only right to talk about the current music scene as well.

So what’s next?

The first year has looked at my first experiences of the charts, of first records, first gigs, first festivals, and the first time I heard certain records or bands. In 2013 I will explore how these formative experiences shaped my musical tastes in my teenage years. (NB. This really just means I’ll continue writing the same old nonsense).

I will continue to look at the bands that shaped the pre-grunge scene, and I’ll also look to keep writing about the bands I like now, and the gigs and festivals I go to. I’ll keep trying to get down the front at gigs, because that’s where it’s most fun – and where I can take the best photos. I may even try to think of some new jokes. Just kidding. I’ll keep using the same old jokes.

Thank you for joining me on the journey. I’m having fun. Hope you are too.

I know that people like statistics (even though 63% of statistics are made up on the spot) so I thought you would like to see the following facts about the writing of Every Record Tells A Story:

Since it began, I have:

Written 97,925 words in 159 articles.

Taken 3,428 photos of artists in concert, of which only 101 were good enough to actually be worthy of publication. (That means I have one of the world’s biggest photo libraries of bad gig photos). Must learn how to use the camera this year.

Drunk 253 cups of coffee whilst writing the articles.

Snorted three cups of coffee down my nose laughing at my own jokes. It’s a bad habit.

Written 643 jokes, of which only seven made my wife laugh out loud.

Bought forty-seven records on vinyl (sixteen of which were by The Beatles) and watched thirty eight live bands.

Made one TV appearance. Check. Me. Out.

Received three strongly negative comments about articles I had written.

Deleted two of those strongly negative comments before they ever appeared on the site. Whilst chuckling to myself, giddy with power.

Names For The Blog That Were Considered And Subsequently Rejected Before Deciding Upon Every Record Tells A Story.

In answer to 3, not Nina Simone “Love me or leave me”, which he mauled sometime late last year. A beautiful piece of work by a classically inflected pianist that he felt could be made better with some shaky right hand. The Philistine. Ugh.